Dunsborough Beach: Meelup, Eagle Bay, and the Town Beach Compared

Dunsborough has three beaches within fifteen minutes. Most visitors pick one and miss the other two. Here's how to choose the right one for the day you're having.

Photo: Western Australian Government, CC BY 2.5 AU · via Wikimedia Commons

The three beaches are the Town Beach (a hundred metres from the main street), Meelup (ten minutes east), and Eagle Bay (fifteen minutes east). All three sit on Geographe Bay, which faces north. That's why the water is calm: the swell that hammers Yallingup just doesn't reach here.

I live fifteen minutes south of Dunsborough, on Blythe Rd. I drive up to one of these three beaches most weeks for thirty years and counting. The day decides which one.

Dunsborough sits at the bottom of Geographe Bay. The bay curves from Cape Naturaliste in the west all the way to Busselton in the east. The whole north-facing arc is sheltered. No surf. Warm water by South West standards (you can swim in May, you can swim in October, sometimes through winter on the calm days).

The three beaches are arranged east of the town centre, along a single coastal road called Meelup Beach Road. Town Beach is right at the centre. Drive ten minutes and you're at Meelup. Another five minutes and you're at Eagle Bay.

All three face roughly north or north-east. None of them get west swell. The wind matters more than the swell here: easterlies blow flat, south-easterlies blow clean, westerlies put a chop on but rarely whitecap.

Photo: Calistemon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

The easiest beach in the region. Walk down from the main street with a coffee in hand. Sand right up to the foreshore park; grass behind that with picnic tables and a playground. Jetty in the middle for a short walk. Public toilets, BBQs, parking everywhere.

The water is shallow for a long way out. You can walk fifty metres and still be waist-deep. That's the bit kids love and the bit serious swimmers find frustrating. No waves of any consequence. The bottom is sand. The temperature is the warmest of the three, partly because the water is so shallow.

When it's best: the morning after a long night, with a coffee. Family beach days with toddlers. Afternoons when you don't want to drive anywhere. Off-season swims when the water is cold and you want a shallow-in entry.

When to skip it: when you want a proper swim. Too shallow. And there's no privacy.

The famous one. Ten minutes east of town along Meelup Beach Road. Small bay, white sand, granite headlands at either end, peppermint trees behind. The water is the clearest turquoise on this stretch of coast.

The car park fills by 10am in summer. By 11am cars line the road for two hundred metres. In autumn or winter you can pull up at any time and have the place almost empty.

The water is deeper than the town beach but still calm. You can swim properly: out to the rocks at either end, around the bay, back. The sand shelves more steeply, so you're in deep water within ten metres. Good for adult swimmers. The granite headlands are warm in the afternoon sun and people sit on them with books.

Photo: Calistemon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

The walking track from Meelup runs east to Point Picquet, Castle Bay, and on toward Eagle Bay. About four kilometres one way if you do the whole thing. The track stays close to the water. Whales between September and December if the timing is right. Whale watching on this coast.

When it's best: any calm day from October to May. Adult swimmers. Anyone who wants the photograph everyone takes of Dunsborough.

When to skip it: peak summer middays when you can't park. Strong wind days when it goes choppy.

Fifteen minutes east of Dunsborough, past Meelup. Bigger beach than Meelup, longer arc, more spread out. The suburb of Eagle Bay sits behind it: holiday houses, some of the priciest in the region, mostly hidden in the bush.

The water is calm like the others but the bay is more open. Slightly more chop on a windy day. Sand bottom, gradual shelving. Less dramatic than Meelup, more usable space, fewer people per square metre on a busy day because the beach is bigger.

Photo: Harry Foley, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Behind the beach: Eagle Bay Brewing Co, about fifteen minutes' drive inland from the sand. The combination of beach morning, brewery lunch, beach afternoon is one of the better days you can run on this coast. a day at Eagle Bay Brewing.

When it's best: longer days when you want space. Family beach days when the kids want to run. Combining the beach with brewery lunch.

When to skip it: when you want the dramatic photo (Meelup wins). When you only have a quick window (the town beach is right there).

| Day type | Beach | |---|---| | Coffee in hand, can't be bothered driving | Town Beach | | Want to swim properly, dramatic scenery, calm water | Meelup | | Long beach day with kids, lunch at the brewery | Eagle Bay | | Photographer, golden hour | Meelup or Sugarloaf Rock | | Want it empty | Eagle Bay in winter, Meelup in autumn | | Don't know, just want to swim | Meelup |

Town Beach wins on calm water. Nowhere is calmer.

Meelup wins on scenery. The granite, the turquoise, the peppermints. Nothing else on this coast looks quite like it.

Eagle Bay wins on atmosphere. There's a quietness to it, particularly off-season, that the other two can't match because they're too close to the road or the town.

If you only have time for one, Meelup. If you have a morning and an afternoon, Meelup early and Eagle Bay later. If you have a full day, do all three. The wider Margaret River beaches guide puts the Geographe Bay end against the wild west-facing coast.

The bay does the work. Three beaches, one geography, three different days. Choose by the kind of morning you're having.

Sea lice in March. Some seasons see a stinger bloom in Geographe Bay: sea lice mostly, not jellyfish. They're a nuisance, not dangerous. Locals know to check the foreshore noticeboard at the town beach.

Coastal hazards. No rips on these beaches in the way Yallingup or Smiths Beach have rips. But a sudden change in wind can make swimming uncomfortable. If the sea looks rough, walk back to town and come back tomorrow.

Bushfire risk in summer. Meelup Beach Road runs through bush. In a Code Red fire season the road can close. Check the DFES site if you're heading out on a high-risk day.

Worth knowing about, beyond the three above:

• Castle Bay, between Meelup and Eagle Bay. Smaller, less crowded, similar geography to Meelup. Worth a stop on the coastal walk.
• Point Picquet, also on the Meelup track. Rocky, not great for swimming, beautiful for sitting.
• Bunker Bay, past Eagle Bay on the cape side. North-facing, sheltered, Pullman resort sits behind it. Walking-distance access from the resort or via a public carpark. Worth a swim.
• Smiths Beach and Yallingup, fifteen minutes south. Different coast entirely. West-facing, takes the swell, surfers and bodyboarders. Not what you're looking for if you've come up to swim in Geographe Bay. the broader beach ranking puts these in context.

Pull up at the town beach at 8am with a coffee. Walk the jetty. Swim if it's warm. Drive out to Meelup at 10am, sit on the granite for an hour. Lunch at Eagle Bay Brewing. Swim at Eagle Bay in the afternoon when the brewery is finishing up. Back to town for dinner.

That's the whole bay covered in one day, without rushing. The full things-to-do list for Dunsborough covers the inland half.

The gallery is on Blythe Rd, about fifteen minutes south of Meelup Beach. Heading back toward Yallingup or Margaret River from the bay, it's a short detour off Caves Road. Pamela will be at the front. We're open most days.